What's Left
by moonshadow2012
Summary: When everything you've ever felt sure of is gone, where do you stand? When everyone you've ever relied on has left you for dead, who do you trust? And when your world has collapsed around your ears, what's left? T for violence and possible character death
1. Intrologue

**Yeah I know I'm working on another TF story, but this one is STRICTLY TFA. And I can't work on less than two at a time. I need variety. So, this is my kind-of post-apocalypse story of the archive. Alien takeover, mutant monsters, no living adults to speak of and no help on the way, the works. F-U-N. So, now that I've completed the overview, let's get down to it. I'd give you a bit of a heads-up on what's going on, but I'm mean and I'm actually making you read the story to figure out what's going on. And yeah, Optimus' name changed. I just figured if it changed from Orion Pax to Optimus Prime, it could change again when he took over the Cybertronian Oval Office. R&R**

**Prologue**

_Opti-Magnus_

"Opti-Magnus!"

The name still feels unfamiliar to me. I still feel like Optimus Prime, the rookie who didn't have a clue how to lead a repair crew, let alone a planet. Optimus Prime, hero of Earth – where he knew what he was doing – not Opti-Magnus, leader of all of Cybertron – where he's totally lost without a clue. But I had time to worry about my cluelessness later. I looked up to see the Jet twins coming towards me down the hall.

"Yes, what is it? I'm kind of busy at the moment." I told them in a gentler tone than I used with most of the mechs or femmes that interrupted me while I was drowning in paperwork and/or wallowing in self-pity.

"We have bad news." Jetstorm began.

"Very bad news." Jetfire agreed.

"It's about the Earth-bound Autobots…"

"...the ones who chose to go back after Prowl's funeral…"

"…We received a distress signal from their base…"

"…It's almost a deca-cycle old already…"

"…Apparently there was some sort of Decepticon uprising…"

The rest of what they said blurred into incomprehensible gibberish. I was frozen, berating myself for being so stupid and selfish as to not check on them – my _friends._ I still hadn't really gotten over Prowl's death, which was why I hadn't tried to communicate with any of the other members of the old team. Now I realized my mistake. I might just be returning to Earth to find another comrade, another _friend_ I was too wrapped up in my own agenda to save.

_Oh, Bumblebee._ I thought. For whatever reason, the young bot had decided to return to Earth with Sari. He, Jazz and Arcee had been the only ones who made that decision. Bulkhead, the top space bridge expert in the known universe, had become the top space bridge engineer over all Cybertronian space bridge/space bridge-related teams and corporations. He got to stay at home, but he also traveled frequently enough that he wasn't really ever bored. Ratchet was the head medic on Cybertron, the one with the most experience, the most skill, and the most horrible bed-side manner to ever walk the face of Cybertron.

But Bumblebee, the youngest of my former repair crew, the sarcastic, obnoxious, and caring little mech who kept us all on our toes and reminded us where we stood back on earth – Bumblebee had chosen to go back.

It was easy to see the others' reasons for choosing Earth – Jazz liked the calmness, the smooth cars and the music. He felt like he needed to stay and finish what Prowl had started – putting back together the All Spark. Arcee needed some down time before returning to Cybertron after her ordeal with the Decepticons and losing her memory. Sari was part human. She belonged there. But Bumblebee had declined my offer of a position on the Elite Guard – his dream since he was a sparkling – to go back to Earth, where the technology was slow and there weren't really any other young bots to mess around with.

"Opti-Magnus? Sir?" Jetstorm snapped his fingers in my face.

"Take a ship." I said. "Get a ship and set a course for Earth." He and his brother looked at me, surprised.

"A ship, sir?" Jetstorm asked.

"Earth, sir?" Jetfire questioned.

"We're going to find out what's going on down there and we will help our friends. You two are coming with me." I said.

"But sir, Earth is millions of light-years away from here. Even if you took the strongest space bridge it would take almost a full solar-cycle to reach it." Jetfire pointed out. I smiled grimly.

"Then it's a good thing I know the expert."

**Okay so this was basically an introduction, not so much a prologue. You won't hear much about Opti-Magnus for a couple chapters, but stay tuned, he will play a part in this. The next couple chapters are going to focus mostly on what's going on Earth-wise and why there was a distress call hurled out into space. Also, another member of the former team caught on to the trouble before Opti-Magnus did. And Earth's new leaders aren't going to be very happy to see him…**


	2. Ch1

**Here's chapter one for you. And this is STILL a TFA-based story. Strictly TFA. But I needed some Decepticons and because this is set AFTER the series – and the series did a VERY good job of decimating the known Decepticons - I had to bring in reinforcements. Hence, Barricade, Knock-Out and Breakdown. Enjoy.**

**Chapter One**

_Bumblebee_

In the first months of the war, we actually had a shot at winning. We got cocky and didn't tell anyone what was going on. After that, we never got the chance.

"No sign of them," Sari told me. The two of us were crouched behind what used to be a car or something like that. It was too burned and distorted to really tell. I turned one of my hands into a stinger and stood up slowly. She was right. The street was empty, wind whistling dramatically across it and making it seem like we were standing in some western-based Hollywood ghost town instead of what used to be downtown Detroit.

"Let's go." I said, putting my stinger away and walking out into the middle of the street. Sari followed close behind me. We had agreed not to walk in the open unless we were absolutely sure it was safe. I was absolutely sure that if the Monsters didn't know we were here already, they would soon. It wasn't really a question of how well you could hide or how careful you could be. Arcee and Jazz learned that the hard way.

The windows of the buildings around us were smashed in, the cars overturned and gray with death. Death was everywhere. There was none of the Earth creatures Prowl used to love so much. Despite how much I had hated them, I hoped they went someplace nice. Someone should.

"Where should we look this time?" Sari asked, breaking the eerie silence. I looked around.

"Probably the supermarket. It was still stocked the last time we went out, right?" I asked.

"Artemis and Frost went out last time. They said the doors were broken in like someone else had gotten there first." She reminded me. "It could be Monsters."

"It could be survivors." I pointed out. Sari frowned at me, looking older than – well, looking her age. Even though it had been almost a deca-cycle (a decade for humans) since the Monsters and the Decepticons had arrived, Sari hadn't aged more than two or three years past her sixteen-year-old self. The techno part of her techno-organic body was keeping her young.

"Bumblebee, it's too much of a risk." She said. I frowned back.

"Since when does 'risk' have anything to do with it?" I asked in my trademark cocky tone. Sari sighed and I smiled mischievously at her. "Come on, Sari. Don't you think we deserve an adrenaline rush?"

"Well…" Sari was clearly fighting to remain mature and responsible. I would have to fix that.

"There's not going to be any more coffee if we don't break into the supermarket…" I threatened in a sing-song voice. Sari's fun side won out.

"FINE! For the coffee." She said.

"Of course." I smirked.

The supermarket was the only one of the busted-up buildings that still had power. The lightning wasn't so great, but the refrigeration was even better than what we had back at our new base. We had abandoned the apartments when the two Decepticons – Barricade and Breakdown – had sent the Monsters to them. That was how Jazz went down. We barely got him out of there still online. He was barely still online now.

Sari and I wormed our way through a small hole in the back. It was the handiwork of yours truly when we decided that it wasn't safe to use the front door. We emerged somewhere by the eggs and milk and stuff like that. I looked around. It was quiet and just as creepy as ever. Sari opened one of the freezer doors and moved her arm around.

"Still cold. The Monsters would have already had the generator, backup generator, and power lines all down." She said.

"Not to mention the satellite for the TVs." I commented. "Or maybe they had dish. What do you think?" Sari smirked.

"I think they wouldn't have been watching that much TV. This is a supermarket, not a hangout." She reminded me.

"But the cashiers must have gotten bored at some point." I pressed. Sari shook her head, grinning.

"Just check for meat and bread. I'll get cheese and the fruit/veggie combos. Whoever finishes first can grab coffee and fun stuff." Sari commanded. I saluted comically.

"Yes ma'm." I said, walking off in the opposite direction. I came to the meats first and tried to remember whether I was supposed to get the redder stuff or the boxed stuff. Sari kept telling me about humans getting sick off uncooked meat, but I kept forgetting which one was which. It wasn't really something a bot wanted to dwell on. Dead animals. I smirked. Prowl would have _loved _this.

I moved closer and hummed, debating on whether to use my com link or just guess. Suddenly, I froze. In the mirror above me were reflected two glowing red eyes. They were unmoving, hidden in the shadows – and totally staring hungrily at my back.

**I did not plan to end it there but that's just how it turned out. Hope you enjoyed, review and comment, fav, add to story alert, go tell your friends – **

**Just smile and wave, people.**


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